Has the Church never ordained women?

Has the Church said ‘No!’
- and No it shall be?

“That women cannot be ordained priests has been set forth infallibly by the ordinary and universal Magisterium.”

Ordinatio Sacerdotalis § 4
The Congregation for Doctrine in Rome

Congregation for Doctrine
in Rome

“The Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful.”

Inter Insigniores § 5

Background music?


The universal ordinary magisterium means the teaching of all the Catholic bishops of the world.

This teaching is only infallible if it is:
1. a collegial exercise of teaching authority
2. by the bishops acting as judges
3. after listening to the faithful
4. regarding revealed faith or morals
5. in a judgement they want to impose as final.

None of these conditions has been fulfilled in the matter of the ordination of women.

Discussion closed?
I’m afraid not!




That’s why prominent theologians reject the claim of infallible teaching.

Moreover, for Church teaching to be complete, it needs to be received by the faithful . . . which is not the case when the majority of Catholics reject it!

Read: ‘The Reception of Doctrine: New Perspectives’ by Richard Gaillardetz.
 
  Let’s learn from the past.


It’s not the first time that Roman teaching authorities, including Popes, have made serious mistakes.



Bishop Raymond A. Lucker has recently listed at least 65 teachings of the church that were once taught as authoritative and which have now changed!

From all this it is clear that the question of the ordination of women has not been closed for good!   Return to opening menu?

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What on earth is
the Church’s teaching authority?

Read our frequently asked questions!
For related online Libraries see:  

The ORDINATION OF WOMEN in the Catholic Church

Catherine of Siena VIRTUAL COLLEGE
THE BODY IS SACRED MYSTERY AND BEYOND

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